Colchicum autumnale
The classic gout remedy. Extreme nausea from the smell of cooking food. Joints swollen, hot, red. Extreme sensitivity — slightest touch or motion unbearable. Gouty pericarditis.
Source
Tincture of the bulb (corm) of Colchicum autumnale (Liliaceae), gathered in spring.
Available Potencies
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Keynote Symptoms
Extreme nausea and faintness from the smell of cooking food, especially eggs and fish. Gouty inflammation — joints hot, swollen, dark red, extremely tender. Slightest touch or motion causes intense suffering. Tearing pains in joints. Gouty metastasis to heart (pericarditis). Extreme sensitivity to strong odors.
Mind & Emotional Symptoms
Memory weak. Irritable from pain. Ailments from grief or misdeeds of others. Mental effort causes suffering. External impressions — light, noise, touch, odor — are unbearable.
General Symptoms
Extreme sensitivity to impressions — touch, smell, noise. Nausea from food odors. Gout and rheumatism with violent pains. Worse in autumn. Metastasis of gout to internal organs. Great prostration with internal coldness. Burning or icy coldness in stomach.
Physical Symptoms
Stomach
Extreme nausea from smell of cooking food, especially eggs and fish. Distension. Burning or icy coldness in stomach. Loathing of food. Cannot bear sight or smell of food.
Abdomen
Tympanitic distension. Ascites. Spleen and liver tender.
Rectum
Autumnal dysentery. Jelly-like, bloody mucus stools. Painful tenesmus.
Urinary
Dark, scanty urine. Nephritis. Urine looks like ink.
Chest
Gouty pericarditis. Oppression. Hydropericardium.
Extremities
Gouty joints — swollen, red, hot, extremely sensitive to touch. Tearing pains worse from motion. Gout moves from joint to joint. Edematous swelling.
Modalities
Better From
Warmth. Rest. Quiet. Stooping.
Worse From
Motion. Touch. Smell of food. Cold damp weather. Autumn. Night. Mental exertion.
Constitutional Type
Gouty diathesis. Persons with recurrent gout and rheumatic complaints. Sensitive, refined individuals who cannot tolerate strong odors. Often seen in autumn relapses.
Clinical Indications
Gout. Gouty arthritis. Pericarditis (gouty). Autumnal dysentery. Nausea of pregnancy (when odor-triggered). Rheumatism. Dropsy. Nephritis.
Comparative Materia Medica
Compare Ledum (gout ascending from below, better from cold), Benzoic acid (gout with strong-smelling urine), Sabina (gout with uterine symptoms). Colchicum is distinguished by the extreme nausea from food odors and the exquisite tenderness of gouty joints.
Safety Information
Belladonna. Camphor. Cocculus. Nux vomica. Pulsatilla. Spigelia.
Colchicum autumnale is highly toxic. Colchicine causes violent GI symptoms, bone marrow suppression, multi-organ failure, and death. No antidote exists for colchicine poisoning. Even 0.5mg/kg can be fatal. Mother tincture is dangerous.
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